Are we playing games with the country’s future?
Since the day President, Ernest Bai Koroma announced the members of his cabinet, many of us have continued to express concern at the heavy bias of the appointments in favour of the north. Even though as an opposition we have never expressed any desire to be included in the government and have, on the contrary called attention to the fact there are APC supporters in every part of the country, the APC apologists have labeled us as malcontents, nay, as left-outs who complain that the grapes are sour. Many of us have lived long enough to learn that this kind of regionalism, sectionalism and marginalization does not bear good fruits, no matter how long it may take.
Specific instances have been pointed out, such as a so-called dream team which practically issued threats against the regime. Not only did the authorities dismiss it as a covert action of the opposition, but Philip Neville was inspired to bring out a false story, backed by forged documents that the leadership of the SLPP was planning violence ahead of 2012. When the IMC declared the story as unsubstantiated and ordered Philip Neville to retract and offer an unqualified apology to the SLPP, his response as usual was to spend almost three days castigating the Commission adding that the members were only interested in their per diem and in the delicious food served at meetings.
Jia Kangbai came out with a story last Friday regarding the biased promotion and the strategic command positions in the military in favour of the north. He reminded the perpetrators of such political games of the dare and destructive consequences. The young man reminded readers of our outcry over the composition of various commissions and parastatals as well as the shifting of senior southeasterners from certain positions or shifting them sideways only to be replaced by northerners. It began with Kemokai the Clerk of Parliament and has included KO Bah, Director-General of Defense. Sadly, in his unfortunate BBC interview his Excellency denied any involvement in such appointments even as the names and figures stared him in the face. And yet in the same breath he boasted of the appointment of Munda Rogers as Director-General of “the largest corporation, the Sierra Leone Roads Authority.” But as everyone knows Munda Rogers was already in post from being properly interviewed and appointed as a deputy; the APC merely and very reluctantly promoted himÂ
Readers may confirm this background from previous pages of the African Champion and the We Yone newspapers. Compare these actions of the APC government with how we did it when in power. For example Keith Biddle had recommended Archer-Kamara and Benson Soumasa for the post of Inspector-General of Police. Soumasa in fact acknowledged that Archer was senior to him and a little more experienced. I bet my last pension cent (which by the way has yet to be paid) this APC government if it had been faced with a similar situation would never have done what we did!
Everyone has been expressing grave concern over the frequency and dare-devil spate of armed robberies in the country and especially in the capital city and the Provincial headquarter cities. Nobody feels safe any longer; a situation voiced by many pro government supporters. The police was very well equipped with transportation, communication and other facilities under the SLPP. After two years of APC rule I shall leave it to my readers and the police to judge for themselves.
Chatham House is a Think-Tank and a Centre for Strategic and International Studies in the UK. It regularly turns out material on every conceivable subject. At the beginning of the APC administration, it came out with a report about scaling down British involvement in the security sector of Sierra Leone. Under the SLPP, promotions and other activities in the military were strictly on merit and were left in the hands of the military themselves. I am not sure of the degree of IMATT involvement in today’s decision making at Tower Hill, but we had no such stories coming out of the military as is being heard today. For the future stability and peace in our country, his Excellency is being urged by this old political chameleon to manifest a direct and personal interest in the military, especially as he is not only Commander-in Chief, but President of all Sierra Leone. Otherwise your Excellency, there is a real likelihood of your leaving a legacy that would only be compared to the regime of late former President Joseph Saidu Momoh, who by the way was a very good chap and very amiable in his own way. He was exploited by those who were later to desert him. Our charismatic President Koroma must steer away from that course and become President of Sierra Leone not only in words, but in deeds.
Stay with Sierra Express Media, for your trusted place in news!
© 2009, https:. All rights reserved.
